Microsoft's Bing Could Get Instant Search in HTML 5 Release

Microsoft is planning to integrate instant search results into the next version of its Bing search engine, according to the latest rumors. That innovation would mirror a similar one launched by Google in 2010, and represent yet another escalation in the search battle between the two companies.

According to a March 6 posting on the blog Winrumors, Microsoft is readying an HTML5 version of Bing for release in conjunction with the Internet Explorer 9 rollout, with instant search as a new feature. "The instant search will allow page elements to automatically transition as the user types their search query into the Bing box," suggests the posting. "Microsoft will make HTML5 Bing available as a beta preview version around the same time as Internet Explorer 9 is available."

Meanwhile, a preview Website for the HTML5 version of Bing mentions a handful of new features, including "Search previews as you type" and "animations that make search come alive" as well as "seamless transitions between pages." Internet Explorer 9 beta, Google Chrome and Apple's Safari 5 will support the preview version of Bing, which doesn't seem available for downloading at this time (the preview Website itself also seems to be experiencing some issues; a cached version can be found here.)

Aside from that Website, Microsoft is staying officially quiet about any upcoming Bing features.